Hendriksen Happenings

Random

2012-01-22T07:24:00.003-07:00

The monthly cousins pictures- our husbands just roll their eyes now and don't say anything when we get them together with our cameras and do whatever it takes to make them smile (or at least look the same direction).

The one on the far right seriously needs a mom who takes care of him and keeps him clean. He looks like an orphan.

Getting loves from his Abuelita

Ty and Trey hangin out with their sippy cups.

January 2012: Parker- 4 months, Brock- 9 months, Levi- 6 months

Ty wearing part of his new suit from Aunt Jordy!! Thanks Jordy-poo!! I couldn't get him to take a picture without holding or playing with something- that's explains the Tylenol bottle and syringe.

Not wanting to take cute matchy-matchy pictures together.

Yum! Cheerios in yogurt! So good it puts you to sleep...

How Levi takes awesome naps now!! Yes, it looks like I am smuggling him but no, I am not. He likes totally darkness, like his momma. His breathing hole is there between the blanket and burp cloth- ha!

Basement Fun

2012-01-18T14:56:00.001-07:00

The boys LOVE the swing my mom got them for Christmas. TJ swings them (well, just Ty really, I won't let him do that to Lev) soooo high in our (12 ft) basement- they just laugh and squeal so loud! It's pretty fun to watch. :) This bottom picture was right before Ty got clocked in the head with it- he's still working on learning his visual perception and distances. I think this was a good lesson, haha. Gotta admit, Teej and I couldn't help but laugh.... we're such great parents. :)

6 Months

2012-01-13T11:15:00.003-07:00

6 Months Stats:

Weight- 17 lbs, 7 oz, 50% percentile

Height- 27 1/2 inches long, 75% percentile

Head- 43.7 cm, 50% percentile

Last week Levi turned 6 months! My little baby isn't so little anymore! At 6 months he has mastered sitting up and no longer requires pillows placed all around him. He loves any type of baby food fruits but does not like any vegetables- at all!! He is very smiley and is starting to thin out since he only gained a little over a pound in 2 months. He was really sick about a week or so ago and lost some weight then (he was having massive diarrhea with blood in his stools, fevers, cough and congestion and throwing up- I was so worried! He ended up having an ear infection on top of that too- poor baby. That is how we spent our New Years! Fun stuff.).
He wears 9 month and 12 month clothes. He loves his momma and only wants her at times. He looooves to nurse and often won't take a bottle very well when I'm at work and makes me nervous and stressed. He loves Ty and to play with (pull) his hair. Still easy going personality. Loves to take baths and splash lots. Just the sweetest boy and loves to cuddle!!! Another favorite of his is to suck on his two big toes, especially at the same time! Haha, pretty comical. He also loves to arch his back backwards and look at everyone and all his surroundings upside down. He wears size 2 diapers but really needs size 3 and often has a couple blow outs several times a week. :) (I have a big supply of size 2 and refuse to buy more until those are gone, haha).
That basically sums up our little Lev!!

Toy Story Boys

2012-01-12T12:44:00.005-07:00

Please Pray for Baby Bauer!

2012-01-08T09:09:00.004-07:00

My sister-in-law, Ginger, had my nephew Parker on Sept. 9th of this year. Their really good friends, Kelsie and Cade, had their little boy, Bauer, on the same exact day in the same exact hospital, just a few doors down! It was so fun for them to experience all of this at the exact same time. I've never met Kelsie, Cade or Baby Bauer but my heart is breaking for them and I just can't stop thinking about them. I feel like I have to do something to help them so this is my way of trying to help: asking for your prayers.

Bauer is 4 months old and had his first chemo/radiation treatment yesterday. In a matter of a few days he was diagnosed with cancer and their world has turned upside down with unknowns and any parent's absolute worst nightmare.
Ginger told me he has what's called Neuroblastoma, which is a malignant tumor that develops from nerve tissue and occurs in infants and children. (Here's a link with more info if interested, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002381/).
The information on this link states that the cause of the tumor is unknown, it is commonly diagnosed in children under age 5, and occurs in 1 out of 100,000 children. :(
I'm not sure what his prognosis is but I know the power of prayer and putting our faith and trust in Heavenly Father.
Please keep this family in your prayers!!! Thanks!

Bauer on the left and Parker, my nephew, on the right

Cade, Kelsie and Baby Bauer

Genetics

2012-01-06T10:03:00.003-07:00

You'd be making this face too if you had to deal with these eyebrows your whole life.

Levi escaped and got the Wengert eyebrows. :)

I'm just worried our girls will get them one day....how young can you wax babies' eyebrows?? Just kidding!!

Ty has discovered the hanging diaper holder on the side of Lev's crib....This has now become a daily task of his.

Christmas 2011!

2011-12-31T10:07:00.012-07:00

Presents from my Mom and Dad

Levi learned to sit up during Christmas- my baby is getting so big! He still flops over sometimes so that's why the pillows all around. :)

Christmas Morning at church

Matching Toy Story jammies! Couldn't get a good picture though....

Santa started shopping really early this year and found lots of way good deals! It's kinda fun being Santa.... :)

Levi was shocked over all of Ty's presents!

Lev just liked the wrapping paper.

Had so much fun playing with his Elmo "iPod"

Ty LOVES Elmo!

Ty's pile

Santa came!

Christmas was so fun this year and all because of watching Ty open his presents and his excitement! He would unwrap every single piece of wrapping paper off his presents and thought it was so fun to open them. Santa also found an AWESOME deal on a Toy Story electric car and Ty, of course, LOVED it! He also got a tricycle from Grandma and learned how to ride it the same day. Grandma also got Levi got a fun swing that we can hang in our basement (we have 12 ft ceilings downstairs!!) as well as waaaay too many presents that came in several large boxes- thanks Grandma!! After opening presents in the morning, skyping with my family and having breakfast we went to have Chirstmas dinner (feast, really) at my Grandma and Grandpa Allen's house. My Uncle Kenny and Uncle Brian with their families came too so it was fun. We did a fun present game and ate way too much food. There are also 5 little boys that Ty has fun playing, wrestling and chasing with around the house.
It was my first Christmas not being home (besides the one I had on my mission and then the one when we were first married- I had to work all day Christmas Eve and Christmas Day so Christmas just kinda came and went) and so it was kinda weird/different since all my siblings were home except for us.... it was still a great Christmas though. I guess I've finally become a real adult by now- I'm 26, it's about time! Sheesh!
But it did make me realize that the only thing that really matters is being with Teej and the boys. We're a little family now and as long as we're together, that's what makes it special.
How's that for cliche and mushy???
Merry Christmas!!!

Christmas Eve

2011-12-31T09:38:00.008-07:00

The whole fam!

Ty had 5 teeth coming in with 2 molars- I felt bad for him even if he was being sooo grumpy by the end of the day.

Little kids just can NOT resist "helping" to open all the presents- I love it! So cute! Kids make Christmas so fun!

Levi- 5 months; Parker- 3 months, Brock- 8 months

For Christmas Eve this year we spent it at the Hendriksen's. It was a nice, relaxing day, just hanging out with the family! We ate yummy Colombian food and played games. Ty loves being with his cousins and especially wrestling with them. There are times when I think he's going to start crying from being tackled on by bigger boys but he just loves it!! Vannessa flew in from NY so it was fun having her around. The little boys all got matching pajamas. So cute! Thank you to everyone for all the boys' presents- they loved them all!

Ready for Christmas

2011-12-24T04:32:00.006-07:00

Waving hi to everyone he sees as of this week. Still not talking much....His words include "dadda, momma, and hello". :) Hopefully more to come!

Sitting up with a little bit of help now. After a while he tips over and can't straighten himself up or catch himself at all. Kinda funny.

Falling over... or maybe pushed over?? :)

Ty's favorite sippy cup with his beloved milk.

Ty LOVES his Aunt Jessie! (Even though he couldn't pull himself away from Finding Nemo to look at the camera or her).

1st Annual Cousins' Gingerbread Houses

2011-12-23T13:50:00.008-07:00

This year was the first of a new tradition we want to start- a Hendriksen cousins gingerbread decorating contest! Even though most of the cousins were little it was really fun and it'll get more and more fun as they grow up.

Brock is 8 months and already pulling himself up!

Brock- 8 months

Ty and Trey play sooo good together! Ty loved having all the boys around and just kept trying to keep up with them all. He wasn't sure he liked being wrestled by the bigger boys- he's used to being the big one and dominating! :)

Yes, I know, Levi's head is HUGE next to Brock- hahaha! Levi is almost sitting up. Brock was showing him how.

Falling over...

Easton- 8 years old

Cole- 6 years old

Levi- 5 months old

Trey- 2 years old

Ty- 19 months (eating yogurt by dipping his cheetos into it and using that as a spoon- gag me)

Peyton- 4 years old

Ugly Sweater Contest

2011-12-21T07:28:00.000-07:00

Mandi and Corina's daughters with the babies- they were in heaven!

Alena with Levi, Charlotte, Aubrey with Dane, and JoJo

For work, I was in charge of the Work Christmas Party- whew! SO glad it's over cause it was waaay too much work!! :) We had an ugly sweater contest and I took pictures of everyone and the winner won a Kindle! Here are our ugly sweaters- I thought they were pretty good but they were so lame in comparison to so many of them!!! Justin won- if I posted a picture you were totally understand why but it's too hideous to include in here, haha. We found all of our sweaters at Savers. TJ's was too boring so I added the decorations on front. Levi's is the worst but he wouldn't hold still so I couldn't get a good picture of it. It had all these knitted scenes of fishing on the front. It also was a 4T so maybe that's why I couldn't see the front well. :) We also had awards that everyone voted for....I was NOT happy about the award that I won...... the Most Likely to be Pregnant Next award!!! SO NOT HAPPENING!!!!! :)
I love all my coworkers- they make everything so fun and really care about my life and my family. I'm going to miss them next month when I leave to go down to the ED. I cleaned out my office yesterday.... definitely caused mixed feelings! But change is good and needs to happen. :)

December

2011-12-18T08:06:00.002-07:00

Ty loved helping decorate the tree this year. Kids make Christmas so fun and I can see how each year gets more and more fun as they get older.

Tree decorating is hard work.

Our tree with all the ornaments on the upper half of the tree. Ty liked to put them on but take them off over and over....

Lovin on little brother. Lately he's always wanting to hug or kiss him. The ladies at day care tell me he's always checking on him there and will run up and hug him. They think it's so cute. Me too. :)

19 months

5 months

My project this year- Levi's stocking. My grandma helped- a lot!!

Ty loves spinning Levi around and around until they are both so dizzy they can't walk/sit up straight. Poor kid. Also, notice Ty's Mickey pajama shorts that are so small they look like underwear. He'll find them when I'm sorting through his old clothes to find bigger clothes for Levi. He has to wear them and won't take them off all day.

Watching cartoons together :)

Temple Square Lights

2011-12-11T08:46:00.008-07:00

Once both boys starting losing it and both were crying, we decided it was probably time to go. :) Then we proceeded to walk back to the far away parking garage each carrying a crying boy and TJ pushing an empty double jogging stroller. Ironic. :)

Loved this pic of Ty looking up at Christ

Peyton riding in the baby stroller :)

Ty and Trey kept kissing each other all night- not sure where that came from. It was cute now that they can finally put their arms around each other and somewhat pose for a picture (while Trey says "cheese" for them since Ty still isn't talking....)

This weekend we went to see the Temple Square Lights at the Salt Lake City Temple. Dezi and Seth met us there so it was fun for all the boys to play together and see each other more frequently. It was fairly cold and of course, Ty refused to wear any mittens. I did manage to sneak the beanie on at least. The lights were beautiful, as always, and it's always fun to do festive things during the Christmas season.

SANTA!!!

2011-12-10T11:32:00.003-07:00

Needless to say, Ty didn't like Santa too much this year. Maybe next year??
Actually, next year there will probably just be 2 screaming boys instead of 1!

Arizona Thanksgiving

2011-12-09T13:30:00.005-07:00

While in Arizona for Thanksgiving we went to this Ostrich Farm where my dad is the vet. We got free admission and were able to feed the ostrich, goats, lambs, and birds- it was pretty fun! We live really close to it but have never gone all together so it was quite the unique family activity! We also went to many basketball games since Jordan and Derek are both on Varsity Basketball this year. Tanner and Janae had some games too. Ty got used to having Festus around, the pet donkey even after almost getting bucked off! (My dad just set Ty on his back to see what he'd do and yeah, Festus didn't like it! ). Levi tried to eat pumpkin pie, my sisters babied Levi and snuggled and held him constantly, and Ty LOVED being out side and swinging on the tire swing and watching the horses. In between all that, both boys got double ear infections so we spent some time at the InstaCare too. :) But definitely made the #1 thing I was grateful for this year to be.... antibiotics!!! They sure work wonders. I'll never understood how the pioneer women did it and survived. Even though it was chaotic and crazy at times, it was so fun and I'm glad TJ could be there too for most of it. It was fun to have all 8 of us kids home too.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Shooting

2011-12-08T21:35:00.002-07:00

The whole crew

Have to say my shoulder was pretty sore- hadn't shot in a while!

My grandpa thought he was so funny when he did this last minute as I was taking the picture!

My 4 brothers and TJ

We went skeet shooting clay pigeons out in the desert, next to my parent's house on Thanksgiving. We had a 10 for 10 contest and my grandpa (who is a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force, went to Vietnam, and was on a skeet shooting team when he was younger) got 100%, all ten in a row. Needless to say, us kids were pretty impressed by our grandpa! Tanner (9 year old) said, "Well, no wonder grandpa did so good. He's been in a war." It was pretty funny- you had to be there though. :) TJ did pretty good too (9 out of 10)! I love being outdoors and doing outdoorsy things. TJ and I can't wait to someday own some land and live in a rural area. :)

It's Official!

2011-12-08T21:05:00.005-07:00

Well, after several months Mr. Graduate-and-now-ready-for-a-Career Man finally has a good, promising job with a future!! Congrats, TJ! As of today he got (re) hired to USANA Health Sciences in their customer service department! This is where he worked for 3 years when we first got married and he left on very good terms so they ended up opening a position specifically just for him. I'm so proud of him and the initiative and effort he put into all of this. I'm also happy for him because he is so excited about returning back to a job he really enjoyed and working for such a high quality company (such a change from the current job but... we are very grateful for any job these past 2 months and for the bosses there letting him work at the call center temporarily! He basically just replaced our day care costs but it was good for him to get back into the work force and land of bread-winners :)
The plan is to start on Dec. 19th and after 3 months (usually they make them wait 6 months) he can apply for higher up jobs, like where he was before. We're just so grateful to get his foot back in the door. The only draw back is that it's in Salt Lake but TJ doesn't mind the commute and after not having a job for so long, we don't care! We're closer in PG than we were in Provo so I think it'll all work out.
Another official announcement is that my last day of working full time is Dec. 28th on the 3rd floor! I have some mixed feelings about that because I love the people I work with and I've been there for 3 1/2 years. I will definitely miss them and how comfortable and at home I feel there with my boss, coworkers, patients and doctors. I have enjoyed my job as the Educator immensely but am thrilled to be a REAL mom and be at home with my boys. It is definitely time. I will be working part time in the Emergency Department starting Jan. 1 which will mostly be two 12 hour shifts or three 8 hour shifts, mostly at night. I will work part time for 1 year and then after that will go down to PRN, which means only 4 shifts a month and the first to be called off- yahooo!!!!! And that will be just to keep my license current. Sounds sooo much better than my current M-F all day job. I feel very strongly about keeping my license current since that is our safeguard if anything were to happen to TJ. Plus, I worked so hard in nursing school that I can't bear to let that go. Nursing is so flexible and family-friendly that I need to use it to our advantage. Working part time will supplement our income until TJ has an opportunity to get a promotion (cross-fingers!).
The boys will go to day care every once in a while instead of Monday- Thursday and I will be home soooo much more. I am very much looking forward to the change and excited for the new experience in the ER! It's somewhere I've always wanted to work and pretty sure I will love it! Change is definitely what I need and I'm so looking forward to a new type of nursing.
Also, I also got a calling as Relief Society Instructor and TJ got a new calling as well.....but.... it's not official yet so I can't say. I think he'll love it though.
So.... lots of changes but GOOD ONES! :)

2011 Christmas Card

2011-12-07T21:35:00.000-07:00

Sorry I didn't mail these out to everyone but here is your very own electronic version, just for you!!! haha.
Hope you have a very Merry Christmas from us, Hendriksens!

I really thought these pictures were a total failure because Ty would NOT even sit still for one second- he was wanting to get down and run all over, let alone smile and look normal. Plus it was snowing like crazy but....this just shows how amazing our photographer was! Thank you, Sarah! And what was even more amazing about her is that all she asked for these is that we donate $50 to the Utah Food Bank and she gave us a CD full of pictures- totally worth it and very admirable of her and her family. :)

Airport Adventures

2011-12-04T15:42:00.006-07:00

I knew that flying alone with 2 babies was going to be a crazy challenge but I was determined to get to AZ, stay for a whole week and ENJOY it, dang it! :) haha. So even though it was ridiculous, it was a great trip and I loved it. I hadn't be home since April and I missed it so bad. I also wanted to write down some "funny" things that happened just for the record. So please, don't feel like you have to read on. You can stop here. :)

I mostly wanted to prove to myself that I could fly alone with the two boys.
However....
My first problem was that I assumed that the airport wouldn't be busy at 5:15 am on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving- WRONG! It was packed and so crazy and after begging people to let me go ahead of them in the security line, getting yelled out by the security guards who insisted that I carry both boys through the metal detector four times and then proceeding to literally sprint from one end of the airport to the other (good thing I had the jogging stroller!! I was sweating by the time I got there since I had a coat on too) I was too late. :( It was 5:59 am and my flight left at 6 am. I was quite the sight to see with my jogging stroller loaded down and 2 kids inside (all the old ladies kept asking if they were twins- reallly???) steering it with one hand while holding a diaper bag, purse and car seat in the other. When I asked the lady why it left early, she said in-a-not-so-nice tone that I had to be at the gate 5 minutes early and that it was my own fault. Once she saw the tears well up in my eyes ( I had been up since 3:30 am lady!!!) she took me aside and helped me get another flight. Unfortunately, this included a lay over and 2 flights instead of the quick 1 hour direct flight to Phoenix. My other problem was that I forgot you can't have any electronics the 10 minutes before take off and before landing thus the iPad had to be put away and a very loud, cranky, tired 18 month old that had been up since 4:30am was crying loud for all to hear while kicking the seat in front of him.
However...
there are still very kind people in this world to which I am most grateful for.
This large Samoan grandma lady sat down next to us on one of the full flights and simply took Levi from me, kissed him all over his face and then snuggled him up to her where he proceeded to sleep the entire flight. I told her I loved her and wanted to keep her forever.
On another flight, this other kind man offered to help (who I really think was just being polite and was expecting me to say no) and I immediately said, "YES!" while handing him Levi as he started to ask if he could carry my bags, haha. I thanked him and then grabbed Ty and our bags and went off the plane to get the jogging stroller. I eventually asked the stewardess to watch Ty and went back for Levi.
I'm amazed that one of my kids didn't get kidnapped since I was so trusting to strangers in my frazzled state. :)
The last "funny" thing that I wanted to remember about this flying experience was when we were boarding our connecting flight both boys fell asleep in the stroller. As I got to the plane door, I was trying to figure out how to get both boys and our stuff to our seats without waking them up. Then the pilot asks if he can watch Levi while I carry Ty to our seats, which was so nice of him. I do that and take my time since no one else was boarding at the time. I lay Ty down and of course, he wakes up crying and I try to calm him before going back for Levi. When I do go back the entire rest of the plane is standing in line behind my stroller, just waiting, while the pilot is just standing there watching the baby! I was so embarrassed (for the 15th time that day) but also thought it was just icing on the cake along with everything else that happened.
The flight back was easier since it was only 1 flight and my mom had packed an awesome "plane" bag full of Toy Story games, toys, and candy. We arrived early (I learned my lesson) and the airport had a fun kids play area. Ty made a friend there and they watched Seasame Street together while rolling and playing on the mats. It was cute and wished planes could have that on board.
I think I'll invent a kid-friendly airplane complete with Samoan nannies and pilots that babysit.

So Different

2011-11-30T21:18:00.004-07:00

Can't get over how different these two are.... I just assumed they'd be the exact same but I couldn't have been more wrong. Kinda fun to have two so close together and repeat the same things we did last year around the holidays. :)

Hope your Thanksgiving was fabulous!

Ours sure was (minus double ear infections x 2 boys!)

More pictures to come!

Levi 4 month Pictures

2011-11-27T11:19:00.000-07:00

Family Pictures 2011

2011-11-26T15:09:00.002-07:00

Enough Said

2011-11-23T08:47:00.000-07:00

I love my little gorilla baby.

The Boys

2011-11-20T08:19:00.001-07:00

All the Cousins

2011-11-18T14:35:00.003-07:00

Last weekend was Parker's baby blessing and so of course, we had to try to get a picture with all the cousins together since we've added 3 in number this year! My kid had to be the one to make the picture difficult as you can see with the dumped out goldfish and no smiling...oh well.
Easton- 8 years
Cole- 6 years
Peyton- 4 years
Trey- 2 1/2 years
Ty- 18 months
Brock- 7 months
Levi- 4 months
Parker- 2 months